The children and widow of the late
Ikechukwu Abasirim, the bus conductor
that pushed to his death by LASTMA
officials, are finding life very difficult at
the moment.
Barely few weeks after the tragic murder
of a commercial Ikechukwu Abasirim, bus
conductor by officials of the Lagos State
Traffic Management Agency, LASTMA, along
Apapa/Oshodi expressway, the harsh reality
of the loss of their bread winner is
beginning to tell on the family her left
behind as three out of his four children
has been thrown out of school due to the
inability of their mother to pay their fees.
Vanguard Newspaper gathered from family
sources that as at now, only one out of the
four children had gone back to school
while the rest were still at home, owing to
lack of money to pay their school fees.
The source also pointed out that the
pregnant widow of Abasirim, Ini Abasirim,
has since packed out of the family house
at Oshogbo street, Ijesha road, and
relocated to her in-law’s place at Taiwo
Keji street, along the same axis, with her
four children.
Vanguard crime crew which paid a visit to
the parents of the late Ikechukwu,
describes the situation this way:
On a visit to the parents of late Ikechukwu,
they were found sitting on a mat while
their pregnant daughter-in-law sat on a
sofa in the sitting room with her chin on
her palm, carried away in thought.
At a point, she clapped her hand and
exclaimed in her dialect, apparently trying
to fathom how long the pang of anguish
will last. Her children on the other hand,
were sighted in a corner of the sitting
room looking gloomy. One of them had a
reddish eye ball. The sight of the children
aroused pity from sympathizers who still
throng the home to commiserate with the
family.
Out of concern, one of the visitors asked
why the children were still at home instead
of being in school. The distraught and
dispirited widow responded in a weak tone;
‘they have not started because I do not
have money to pay for their school fees.’
At that point, one of the children, Victor,
broke down in tears and asked the mother
curiously, ‘does it mean I won’t go to
school again?’
The question elicited sympathy which was
accompanied with a gush of tears from his
grandparents, his mother and
sympathizers.
Before his father’s demise, 7- year-old
Victor, a primary 3 pupil, was said to have
boasted to his parents that he would
attend Kings College after his primary
education. He had reportedly also advised
his father to be saving towards his
university education but that dream may
not be realised except a miracle happens.
In an emotion-laden tone, the pregnant
widow lamented that the demise of her
husband of 13 years had plunged the
family into a difficult phase.
She said:
I wonder how I will carry on without my
husband. He might not be rich while alive
but, at least, we lived within our limit. He
managed to pay the children’s school fees as
at when due.
But right now, I can’t foot the bills. Our first
child Ndubuisi, who is in Junior Secondary
School in a public school has resumed.
The second child, Emmanuel (11) finished
from a private school but I have to start
processing a school in the public sector for
him because the person that used to pay his
fees is gone.
But Victor (7) and Destiny (4) are still at home
because of lack of funds. I honestly do not
know where to begin from.
While she was lamenting, late Ikechukwu’
father, who retired from the Nigeria Ports
Authority, kept shaking his head in self pity,
trying as much as he could not to betray his
emotion.
At a point, he said in a shaky voice:
The most painful aspect of it is that I can not
assist financially because I have not been
paid my pension. Currently, we have dragged
government to court over the non-payment
of our pension. My dear daughter, you know
that nothing can be more painful than
watching one’s children sit at home while
their mates are in school.
Much as I desire to assist them, I am
financially handicapped.
My wife, a petty trader who has been
assisting tremendously, is at home at the
moment.
She has not been herself since the incident.
At 74, who will employ me, in order to take
care of these children? This is, indeed, the
most shattering incident that has happened to
me since I was born.